Marco could feel his sister’s chastise of Damien skipping breakfast as soon as the other male mentioned it. However the words didn’t come from Maria but rather Ruby as she approached the group. He smirked a bit knowing that Maria had been beaten there. Though he had no doubt that she would still put in her two cents at some point. She was an avid believer that breakfast was an important meal. He smiled and waved at the approaching female, about to say something when Landon wandered up to the group. He had a tendency to gravitate more toward Marco when he hung around the larger group.

“Nah, I have everything I am doing this year already decided and set up. Backing away from a lot of the extra stuff this year so I can focus on work and the ballet class I help teach now. Figured I needed to slow down a bit.” The ginger male replied to Landon’s question. It was a genuine answer but also kind of a shot at the other male and the fact that he never really had time for anything other than activities and schoolwork. “Besides, it’s our last year here, might as well have a little extra fun before people go off and do their own thing after graduation.” He jabbed Maria with his elbow when he added this last bit, knowing that of the two of them, she was the one likely to ditch everyone and go off to college. Marco still had no clue what he was doing afterward.

He was still talking to Landon when Sawyer wandered up so he had missed what Sawyer said upon his approach. But he felt Maria shift positions and move to the other side of him as a barrier between herself and Sawyer. His attention only moved from Landon when Danny started talking again.

“Alright well let's just go check out the booths and see what we can find.” His stomach audibly growled when the scents of various foods hit his nose. “Unless we need to wait for some more people?” He questioned hoping the answer was no. The smells had made him hungry again and his little nap during the assembly had given him a little extra burst of energy.



Maria opened her mouth to say something about Damien not having breakfast but the approaching Ruby beat her to it. She decided not to beat a dead horse on the matter, especially since there were plenty of options to eat here now. But that didn’t change the fact that he hadn’t eaten. Her mouth closed and her attention was drawn to Landon’s approach. She returned his smile with one of her own but chose to remain silent. Landon wasn’t her favorite person if she were to be honest. The only reason she interacted with him at all was because of Marco, who, despite what happened in the past, seemed to still have a generally pleasant relationship with him. She listened to Marco speak but said nothing herself.

Sawyer joined the group and stated that he had also not eaten breakfast. She shifted a little, casually fiddling with the strings on her romper before deciding to get some distance from Sawyer using both Landon and Marco as a barrier between herself and the boy in question.

“You guys really should make sure you eat breakfast, how some of you live off of two meals a day or less I will never understand.” She shook her head but there was a teasing smile on her face. She didn’t look at anyone in particular with this statement and rather scanned the group as a whole. There was already a pretty decent sized group forming and she was sure they were missing a few.

When Marco mentioned going to look at the booths and she heard his stomach growl she couldn’t help but let out a small sigh. Her brother got hungry anytime he even smelled food. He could probably eat anyone out of house and home if he was let loose. She knew that the group wondering about looking at the stalls would also provide her a perfect opportunity to slip into the crowd if she spotted one of her other friends somewhere.



Allister had made it to one of the many food stalls scattered across the Lacrosse field and from there had moved off to the side in the bleachers where people wouldn't bother him. He opted for some funnel cake, something that was honestly anyone’s weakness at this kind of event. He almost couldn’t help himself when it was an option. His head still throbbed a little bit every now and then so an escape from the noise was more than welcome. A few other people had scattered themselves on the bleachers but he had picked a spot far enough away from them that he wasn’t too concerned.

Allister enjoyed people watching so this gave him a pretty good vantage point to do so, and though there was a rather large cluster of people wondering about he could make out a few groups from where he sat and picked the powdered sugar covered food. Eventually however he got bored of people watching and instead pulled out his phone to go through the pictures of his party the night before, as well as a surprising number of videos of his dog Ghost. At least it would be surprising to anyone who happened to take a look through his phone. The dog never made it to many of his conversations, mostly because unless he was doing something for them, or at one of his parties, people in general didn’t like him. One would think this would cause him to change his way, but no, he rather enjoyed being hated. At least he wasn’t fake like some of the other people. At least that’s the way he liked to think about it.

Sometime during his time scrolling other people had made their way up to the bleachers and it was a little more populated around him than he had intended. With a sigh he stood up, now with his half eaten plate of funnel cake and looked for a spot with less people. As he scanned his eyes landed on a familiar face sitting toward the top of the bleachers. Deciding that the two of them would stop enough people from getting too close , Allister made his way up toward where Ezra, or Benny as he preferred to be called, sat.

“Sup Benny, fashionably late as always?” He chuckled, walking up. He didn’t sit but instead placed the plate of food down and turned to look back at the crowd. “Last year dealing with this place, you gunna help me throw some of the best parties known to man this year?” Allister already knew the answer, the two boys had been friends for a while; there was really no need to ask, it was more just some light conversation. Eventually after a moment of standing Al sat down on the footpath of the row Benny sat on, arms up on the seat behind him and legs over the seat in front of him lounging across the bleachers.

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Cassian had found carrying two plates full of funnel cake through a festival full of teenagers and teachers wasn't as easy as he had hoped it would have been. He initially had been maneuvering through the crowd as if he were avoiding laser trap wires to get to the locked safe at the end of a large room. When he grew tired of fighting for the life of him and his funnel cake he decided to move to the edge where the bleachers were. When he got there he took a sigh of relief of no longer having to deal with the thought of dropping this sugar covered batch of deliciousness.

His momentary bask of glory was interrupted by the faint sound of what sounded like someone crying. He looked around and then up at the bleachers to see a few students scattered throughout. His eyes scanned until they found the source of the sound. He recognized who she was, but he didn't really know her, but he did recognize that she was in his homeroom and that she was currently crying. Anything besides that didn't matter right now. "Nat'll have to wait a bit." He marched up the bleachers providing enough sound on his way up so that he wouldn't completely startle her on approach. When he got closer he noticed pieces of cake on her shirt, but couldn't exactly place his finger on what kind. He looked down at his funnel cake and back at her stain and then back at his funnel cake. He knew exactly what he needed to do.

Once Cassian was close enough he stopped and reached out the hand that held his own plate. "Yo, want some funnel cake?" He didn't need to ask her what was wrong and he really doubted she wanted to tell him in the first place. He just knew it was hard to shed tears when you were stuffing your mouth with an olive branch as delicious as this.

It seemed everyone else was busy making their own decisions on what they wanted to do while Daniel's mind was already made. He slipped his way through the crowds till he was standing in the line at Southern Momma's Funnel Cakes, preoccupied with the menu as he looked it over with a small smile pulling at the corners of his lips. There really wasn't a point in looking the menu over. The boy knew what he wanted. Classic funnel cake with powder and fresh strawberries on the side. None of that fake strawberry syrup bullshit. That stuff always ruined it for him.

With his focus no longer on the menu, Daniel's eyes wandered over the crowd of people walking around a bit in an attempt to spot the group he'd slipped away from before coming back around to look over the few people in line in front of him. One, in particular, stood out as this morning's attendance - that he was barely paying attention to in the first place till the name was called - flooded back into his mind. He'd heard a name being called that he hadn't heard in a little over 7 years, at least not in the classrooms. Charlotte Thorne, an old friend from elementary school. He'd meant to catch her outside of the classroom but decided not to just ambush her on their way to the assembly. Of course, he'd got distracted from then till now.. but of course, where should he have expected her to go but to a truck that sold sweets of some kind? Some things never changed.

Daniel leaned around the kid in front of him, quietly reassuring him that he wasn't trying to cut but was addressing a friend and gently tugging on Charlotte's shirt sleeve. The boy cleared his throat and raised a brow as he spoke up to his childhood friend. Part of him wanted to make up some cheesy greeting with the old nick he'd given her as kids, but nothing was coming to him then, so instead, he just settled on one of her better-known nicknames and a charming, friendly smile.

"Long time no see, Charlie."




There was so much going on. Of course, when you were people-watching from a high point, there was much to see. It didn't take long for the space around him to become a bit more occupied than he'd hoped for. A girl who he only knew by two things - her first name and her trans status - was crying her way up the bleachers, curling up at the end just a few steps down from him. From what it seemed, the girl was crying. Her shoulders were trembling but even from the few steps up, he couldn't hear any audible sound coming from her. Ezra sat there staring at the girl with a look of what some would think, had they caught him staring, was disgust or judgment. Though neither of these was it. The boy suffered from a severe case of resting-dick-face. Something he couldn't really help.

Ezra looked around them, wondering to himself if he was the only one seeing this and if not, why no one was approaching her. The more time that passed, the more Ezra began to feel almost guilty for not getting up to check on her. Emotions and shit of that nature really weren't his forte, and thinking about it now, there was really no reason for him to be feeling the way he was. Guilty? For what..? He didn't owe her anything. What was she crying for on the first day, anyway? Supéralo.

“Sup Benny, fashionably late as always?" It took hearing Demoin's voice to pull his eyes up from Kaylen, tilting his head up at his friend as he approached and greeted him with a quick five, leaning back up against the chainlink fence. "Last year dealing with this place, you gonna help me throw some of the best parties known to man, this year?”

The boy's lips curled up in a bit of a smirk, nodding. "The Devil of Delbrook's gotta have his demon to do his bidding, doesn't he? I'll provide everything you need, man. This year is ours."

Movement a few steps down pulled his attention once more, seeing a notable face approaching Kaylen. Cassian. Good company, but one of his dealing rivals. The boy had nothing but respect for the kid, though. His sister was sure fine. Hell, they both were, if he was being honest... but you don't lay with your enemy, no matter how fine. Ezra watched Cass with Kaylen for a moment longer before turning his gaze back on Allister, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, hands clasped together in front of him.

"Speaking of parties. Our birthday. Halloween. We doin' up a Haunted House? Give estas pequeñas mierdas something to remember us by, besides our 'best parties known to man'."

Location: Studio -> Audi -> Dellbrook Academy High School (sadly)
Interactions: N/A

At the tug on her sleeve, Charlotte spun around giving a dazzling smile, her eyes glittering with excitement over not only the sweets she was waiting for but also because she had been hoping Lydia had finally arrived and found her somehow in this massive crowd. It faded slowly to a polite ‘model’ smile though as she came face to face with someone she didn’t know or at least she didn’t think she knew. The confusion must have been visible on her features as he quickly shook his head, slightly stepping to the side to show the individual behind him, causing her eyebrow to raise as she locked eyes with dark brown ones. She felt a blush trying to form since this guy was practically dripping charm just by giving a friendly smile in her direction and even if it wasn’t for that, his appearance was enough to give her interest though looks aren't everything. She knew more than a few models that had a pretty face but with a personality as foul as a pile of freshly laid crap. Charlotte opened her mouth to ask if there was something he needed when he beat her the punch on being the first one to speak.



She blinked once, her mind completely short circuiting for a moment as she tried to catch up to the words he spoke before her thoughts instantly landed on the simple phrase, Oh, shit. Now she was practically panicking on the inside, her mind scrambling to come up with an explanation on who the hell this was because honestly did not recognize him. Charlotte wanted to say he seemed familiar somehow but couldn’t pinpoint a single place that came to mind and she wasn’t being supplied a name either. She was now regretting her decision to half ass listen during homeroom and completely ignoring the assembly because either one of those could have given a hint. She knew the moment of silence stretching between them was growing more awkward by the second but the forced smile she tried to give had accidently made it worse. ”Oh, um, hey….you…”, she nervously replied, which in hindsight was not helping her case here. She took a deep breath and ran a hand over her face at the stupid comment she made before continuing, ”Sorry, sorry, that was lame…um..”. Charlotte sighed before looking back up to him from between her fingers and then to the dude in between them as she dropped her hand. ”Wanna trade spots?”, she asked. “Don’t have to ask me twice.” he answered before switching with her so she and the mystery man could be next to each other.

She crossed her arms gently, her fingers nervously tapping a rhythm against her arm before speaking up, regret in her tone. ”I’m really sorry to ask but who are you? I know this sounds so rude because you obviously know me and while you seem kind of familiar I just can’t seem to remember who you are.” Charlotte was honestly praying the ground would swallow her up or someone would interrupt to have mercy on her because she currently felt like a complete dumbass in front of a hot guy which she just had to tell straight up, he wasn’t important to remember or be on her radar which was insane because he was up her alley so far unless he turned out to be an asshole so maybe that why she forgot? She usually told those kinds to shove it and get lost though so why would he be so friendly if that was the case? This was confusing and just not how she pictured her first encounter without Lydia to go.

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Pun dulce...conchas...honestly, Molly was hung up on every word that came out of Monse's soft, immaculate face. It had been weeks since these two girls had laid eyes on each other in person. Molly was absolutely enamored by Monse. Their hands wrapped together as they strutted down the Day One Shabam as Molly put it. "Shit, babe, you gotta eat. Did your mom give you a hard time about it? Ah, don't worry, let's get you something good. There's usually some alright funnel cake around here each year, I have some water I can run in and get. Ooh, wait, I saw something on the school's Headbook that they'd have ice cream out here- the good kind, the one with the chocolate in the middle. I fuckin' love that stuff. I got cash, I'll get it if you want babe, we can- Shit, where was it?" Molly felt visibly giddy with Monse's arm wrapped around her, she was usually chill and cool, like the usually "cool kid" attitude, but now that she's been reunited with the love of her life, her lady of the night, her queen, She struggled to contain herself.

All the while, Molly had a cute, sappy smile on her face as if they were on a date and not at school. Really, any day felt like a date to Molly when she was in the general vicinity of her girl. Enough gushing, she thought. "C'mon. Let's find something to eat, babe." She said after a long, huge slurp of her coffee. Maybe this year wouldn't be so bad after all.

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_@Pyxis

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Ali's time at the festival was quickly turning into an amazing one. If all it took to have a great day was get hit by a volleyball she might start all her mornings off like that. But hopefully she wouldn't need to. She felt like this was a sign that this year was going to be spectacular after all. She did feel a little bad however for ignoring Malu's texts, but she'd make it up to her later. A back to school sleepover would be nice. She'd even dedicate all of her time to her tonight and not her new boyfriend.

She drew her attention back to the boy in question and smiled at him as he gave her a "lesson" on how to swing the High Striker's hammer. She actually already knew how to win and had done so a few times at Six Flags. She just liked the time she was spending with Kyle and she really liked looking at his butt so she feigned being a novice. But once he handed the hammer back to her it was time to get serious. She stepped forward and sighed. She placed the head of the hammer into the ground and let the pole rest on her leg. Ali patted at the side of her jeans to dry her hands off and smacked them together a couple of times before reaching back down to grab the pole of the hammer. She made sure that her grip was firm before lifting it and inhaling deeply until she could feel it in the pit of her core. She started to exhale the moment she began bringing the hammer down from the sky above her crashing it down into the platform below. The sound of a bell being rung could be heard before Ali turned to Kyle. "Like that?" She said with a deceivably innocent smile.

Danny watched her as she seemed to be battling with herself, confusion very clearly written across her face as she looked the boy over. He couldn't help but feel bad, though. She seemed to be going through an existential crisis over trying to remember who he was. Sure, he didn't look much like he used to 7-years-ago. If it wasn't for him barely catching her name during attendance this morning he probably would have been as clueless as she was right now. Daniel reached up and scratched the back of his head as he chuckled softly, shaking his head still wearing a friendly smile.

"Ha- no. Don't be sorry, seriously. It's been years." Danny looked past her at the line as it moved up, gently motioning for her to take a step back before returning his gaze to hers. "Uhm. Try imagining me with glasses, curlier hair and-" Daniel held a hand at about the middle of his chest, slightly tilting his head, "About this tall."

Daniel gave it a second, his grin turning to almost a smirk as he added, "Come on, Charlie Brown. I know I went through a glow-up, but I haven't changed that much, have I?"

Years…well, that didn’t narrow it down completely, but it was more than she had before and he wasn’t upset with her, so that was at least a positive. The sudden motion behind her and the indications from him were enough to put two and two together, so she took a few steps backwards, her eyes not leaving him as she did so. She had always been too curious for her own good and who didn’t love a mystery to be solved. The gears in her head were turning, pieces of the puzzle scattered with only a few slotted into place as he continued to provide more information. Glasses, curly hair, and years ago were sadly not the easiest to work with since she wasn’t sure just how many ‘years’ actually meant. It wasn’t until he mentioned height that her mind switched from modeling and events to those of her childhood years. When she was actually free from being shut away and spending so many miserable moments within locked doors. When she could hang out with friends and not have to completely worry about being the perfect little doll her mother wanted and could just be herself without judgement.

Charlotte’s eyes widened a bit, a flood of different memories being supplied as she remembered her group of friends. How much she had missed them and thought of them through rough times? How crushed was she when she realized that she was probably never going to see them again? Her mind ran through their faces as he spoke up again and suddenly it clicked into place. A radiant smile flashed onto her face in a millisecond, even with the awfully corny nickname being applied to her as nothing could stop the pure joy she felt at such a reunion. She should have expected that one of them might be here, but she hadn’t, and it made the surprise all the more special.

"Dandelion!" she happily called out, her body moving before she even registered what she was doing and wrapping her arms around him in a full-blown hug, nuzzling with a tight squeeze. A moment later she froze though, pulling back a bit with an embarrassed blush and continuing to speak, "I can hardly believe it’s you! How is everyone? Are you all still friends? Wait, are they here?….Sorry, that is probably too much."

Danny's smile widened as he could practically see the wheels turning in her head, the slight shift in her features as she came to the final answer. When she called out his own old nickname she'd given him he couldn't help but laugh, "That's my name, don't wear it ou-" A soft grunt escaped the boy as Charlotte rushed forward and wrapped him up in a hug, tilting his head as he looked down at her and wrapped his own arms around her tightly. It wasn't until she froze up that he loosened his hold on her, letting her pull away with ease. The color in her cheeks made Danny smile just a bit more. She was still the same shy girl he remembered from elementary school.

"Yeah. Ha! We are. Few new people have been added to the group, but most of the 'original members' still in it. I'm honestly surprised, out of anyone, you met with me first. I'd have thought you'd notice the twins, first. They're both in our homeroom." Danny cast a look around a moment before returning his gaze to Charlotte with a laugh as he spoke up. "I mean, come on. Two gingers in one class. Talk about a rarity." Better they weren't around to hear him say it, though he would have even if they were, he just didn't feel like getting smacked in the arm or upside the head right this moment.

"But.. yeah, what about you? 7-frickin-years. How's life been treating you, besides.. you know, th-the modeling, and... such?" ...did he just stutter? Gods. Danny cleared his throat, folding his arms over his chest as he stood back with his weight set more on his heels. "I.. don't really use social media, but I've heard from a few about you being in the spotlight."

Her blush deepened as he flawlessly pointed out the fact that the twins were in their homeroom which would have been a pretty clear give away had she been paying even a smidge of attention. It was really on her for this one but that didn’t make it less embarrassing. She tucked her arms behind her back, rocking on heels of her feet as she looked about a bit like she was making sure no one was gonna listen in before grinning a bit.

"Yeah, let’s just say my playlist was on point music wise this morning and my mind was completely somewhere else. I don’t remember half the information that was provided in homeroom let alone everyone else that was around but what can you do?" Charlotte chuckled with a small shrug of her shoulders and the grin on her face getting larger. She felt like a stone was sinking into her stomach at his innocent question on how she was. It wasn’t like she had let on just how bad home had been and still was plus her brother’s passing was all still relatively new. Honestly, she wasn’t fully alright but she wasn’t going to burden him with that and just continued to smile. She already felt bad for dragging Lydia into her problems and she still couldn’t bring herself to cry in front of others.

"I’ve been good, um, some recent big changes obviously but modeling is the same as ever. I’m trying to cut back a bit more so I can focus on school and just being a teen without all the other strings or commitments," she answered before glancing away shyly at the mention of her media accounts and spotlight. She knew that is where she always was, it didn’t really bother her but social media had never been her thing. It had been controlled and monitored, not even feeling like hers until recently. Charlotte had only just started to upload and share more things that were actually her and not just using it as some big promotion. It felt so satisfying to lock her mother out of everything though, posting felt sinfully good because of it, plus Lydia was encouraging her. It was nice, but not something she would probably be doing too often.

"Oh t-that, I am not much for social media but uh, yeah…I am glad you remembered me. I mean, not me but my modeling. N-Not that I am saying y-you wouldn’t want to remember me! I just I, um, I’m glad you heard about me? And, I am clearly babbling so let’s just change the topic to you, how have you been?", she stated in a frazzled manner. 'Smooth Charlie, real smooth. Why the hell am I so nervous and weird?! It’s just Danny. Get it together!', she thought, scolding herself.

The dark haired boy stood there quietly while he listened to her, smirking a bit as she went on. She sure talked a lot. Not that this was a bad thing, by any means. Just something that kept up his smile. Danny shrugged lightly at her question before dropping his arms down to shove his hands into his hoodie pocket, shifting in his stance a little.

"Honestly surprised Goldman didn't ask you to take them out for attendance and the announcements. Though I'm sure she just figures they're a bunch of nonsense, too." He chuckled softly, seeing the line move up one more with Charlotte being next up to order Danny raised a brow and motioned behind her to let her know to both move up and to look to see that she was next. As she continued to speak, he gently nodded from time to time, a bit of a smirk forming though he tried not to as best he could when she stumbled on her words a little. Why was she so nervous? He'd have thought being in the modeling business would have given her nerves of steel.

"Hard to forget you. My mom teased me about you for years after you'd disappeared. And, I mean... come on. Pretty girl with a famous name? Course I heard about you. Was good to know you hadn't just up and disappeared and that you were making a name for yourself." Daniel smiled at her, then, shifting in his stance again before shifting the conversation as she had asked for before.

"As for me, I've... I've been alright. Junior high was a little rough for me, won't bore you with the details. Starting high school, I got into Lacrosse and Water Polo. Wasn't really the best at Water Polo. Definitely nowhere near my brother's skill, and of course he was the top Athlete in the school 3 years running. Kinda hard to compete with that, really. I gave up on Water Polo and decided to switch to Swim, instead. Just made the most sense, to me. After high school, I'd like to go out for Coast Guard, like my uncle Jason. It's... it's always been something I wanted to do, and finally made the decision to go for it." Daniel tilted his head, still keeping eye contact with Charlotte.

"Have you put much thought into what you wanna do after graduation? College, travel, kids..? Anything particular in Ms. Thorne's sights, hm?" He hadn't even realized he'd said 'kids' till he finished speaking, furrowing his brow slightly at his own words. But the mention of kids brought on another question.. one he wouldn't ask aloud. Did she have someone? ...why did it matter. Good lord, Murphy. Keep it together.

Her smile softened, her gaze warm as he spoke of how the years apart had gone. Just hearing Danny speak of quitting anything because of his brother, even if it was only a part of the reason, made her heart go out to him. No one should have to stop something they enjoy because they feel like they are sitting in someone else’s shadow but she was immensely glad that he found a sport even better suited to himself and his dreams. "I wish I could have seen it…you playing Water Polo, I bet you were amazing but I am so happy to know that you found something even better, one that will help you achieve your dreams." Charlotte replied gently before tilting her head a bit to the side as she hummed in thought on his question.

"As for myself, I’m not really sure. If it was up to my parents, I would go to college and prepare to take over the company but I’m not sure if that is for me. Don’t get me wrong, I love designing and creating something with my own two hands! Watching it come together piece by piece until I get to see the joyful smile from someone else because I made them feel special if only for a moment but…I just… I want to make it on my own. You know? I could just keep that as a hobby and become an artist, expressing my vision of the world in a way that is just my own. As I see it, I have time to decide or fate might just surprise me and set me on a path completely separate from anything I can imagine.", she smiled brightly, answering in an upbeat and excited pace as she spoke of her passions. "However, as uncertain as I am about my dreams or future…I do hope to have kids and a family one day, all of us getting to travel and see new places together…but that would require actually finding the right guy," she laughed with a bit of a shrug.

"Yeah, I mean... my mom recorded the meets I did, so.. if you really wanted to, I'm sure she'd love to take up the opportunity to embarrass me in a heartbeat." Daniel chuckled softly, growing quiet again as she spoke up again. His smile grew wider as she talked about her passions. He remembered how much she was into arts and crafts in her younger years. It was nice to see she still enjoyed the simple things in life, even while living such a crazy life as he was sure it was being a model part-time.

"Do you remember the game we used to play? Where we'd take a piece of paper and we'd draw for a minute, hand the paper back and forth to add something to the drawing until we decided to stop?" The boy reached back, firmly grabbing at the back of his neck in a sort of nervous fashion. "I may or may not still have some of those in one of my drawing pads somewhere." His smile turned almost sheepish, his face flushing with a light blush.

"And... I-I'm sure you'll find someone. Don't doubt you've got plenty of guys- er... following you. I'd imagine it wouldn't be hard to find one that met the standard. I mean... yeah, you know what I mean." Could this get any worse.....

Daniel offered a shy sort of smile before looking up as the line cleared in front of them, the lady behind the window looking at them with a kind smile. Clearing his throat, thankful for the distraction, Danny reached into the back of his jeans pocket and pulled out his wallet.

"What were you thinking of getting? I gotchu."

Charlotte tried not to laugh, she really did but seeing him so sheepishly nervous about still having those doodles and the way it warmed her heart to hear it, she couldn’t help but giggle. "No way, I can’t believe you kept those! Some of them were chaotic disasters. I loved doing them though. I’ll definitely have to come over some time so your mom can thoroughly embarrass you and so I can look at those." she stated. She lightly shrugged at his next comment, as nice as it was she found herself sighing a bit. "You would be surprised. Most have been all about appearances, wanting to boost their own popularity or only liking me because of my looks and not caring to know who I actually am as a person. I’d rather date someone for their personality, looks are just a bonus if you can manage it.".

She smiled brightly as they finally reached the kind looking lady behind the counter being completely patient with her space self,"Sorry, I —", Charlie started while reaching for her own wallet but was cut off by Danny’s words. She pulled her attention away from the woman behind the counter to look at him in surprise,"Oh, I was gonna get some funnel cake with fresh strawberries on top and a fried Oreo since I can’t resist trying one but, um, are you sure?".

Danny nodded to both her order and her question, smiling to himself because she was getting his exact order without even knowing it. A soft chuckle escaped him before he turned his eyes back on the woman behind the window, pulling a twenty dollar bill from his wallet before storing it back into his jeans pocket.

"What she said, but double the order please," he reached up through the window, handing the woman the bill. "Could I get some extra strawberries on the side, please? And none of that fake syrup stuff over the top. Thank you."

As the woman got Danny his change, he looked over at Charlotte with a slight smile. "I don't actually live with my parents, anymore. I, uhm.. I moved out over the summer. But we can definitely go over there sometime. Though I feel like I'm just signing my death certificate at this point." Danny laughed lightly as he turned to grab his change, stepping off to the side to wait with Charlotte for their order.

"I also work at the beach. Got a lifeguard job at Huntington with Damien Lopez. Don't know if you remember him or not..? His girlfriend Sam has no shame. She calls us Baywatch," he laughs and shakes his head, eyeing the food truck as he notices movement behind the service window.

"I guess great minds think alike, I also moved out during the summer.", she said with a smile before continuing on to tease him with a chuckle, "Though, I have to say if I do end up visiting them, I’m pretty sure no one has ever actually died of embarrassment so you won’t have to worry about that no matter how much you might want to dig a hole in the backyard to bury yourself in.". They both stepped off to the side, letting other customers have their turn and waiting to get their confections.

"Jeez, I can’t imagine why she would call you two that.", Charlotte smirked, watching the service window to distract herself from looking at Danny. "I can’t say I really remember Damien but I have a feeling Sam and I will get along just fine. I like people who are honest and have no shame. At least I know where I stand with them, you know?"

"Oh, yeah. Absolutely no idea," Danny laughed, watching the line cook shake powder over the funnel cakes as he listened to Charlotte talk. Nodding as he side-eyed her while he talked, "Yeah, I get that. And I can tell you now, you and Sam would definitely get along. She's one of my best friends. Don't know if you like dogs or not, but her and her parents own a few wolf hybrids. They're pretty cool. Oh shit- they're ready!"

Daniel pushed forward back up to the service window and nodded his thanks to the older gentleman handing him the two plates and small white paper bag with what he assumed could only be the deep fried Oreos in it. He turned back to Charlotte, holding out her plate to her with a soft smile. "So, uhm... you wanna go see about finding the twins, or go find somewhere to sit and eat? I was originally going to go back to the group, but if you want to eat in peace before you inevitably get tackled to the ground by them.. we can go somewhere to enjoy this first." Danny smirked a bit, turning around to grab a small handful of napkins and a couple of plastic forks. Not that he had any intention of using a plastic fork himself, but just in case she wanted one she'd have one.

"I pretty much melt around animals, dogs or otherwise. If I see them, they are gonna be spoiled with lots of praise, pets, and scratches since I have no self control.", she lightly chuckled. She felt a rush of pure childish joy at the sight of their order being completed, doing her best not to bounce in excitement as he picked up their order. Charlotte took the plate offered to her like she was being handed the holy grail, already popping one of the strawberries into her mouth with a pleased hum.

"As much as I would love to see the M&Ms again as soon as possible, the idea of having to defend against tackles with a funnel cake in hand is probably not the best option. Let’s find a place to polish these off first before trying to hunt those two down. Heck, they might even find us first.", she smiled, breaking off a piece of funnel cake this time to eat, licking the sugar from her fingers. "Hm, so good…so do you have somewhere in mind we can go in this chaos?" Charlotte asked, lightly gesturing to the crowd of students.

"Well, there's the clear choice. The lacrosse bleachers, but there's also the baseball benches that are just outside of the carnival area." Danny stands up on his tiptoes, though he definitely wouldn't need to, peering over at the bleachers. "Doesn't seem to be too crowded on our bleachers, though." Flashing a smile at Charlotte, he gently nudged her arm with his elbow as he began to walk off towards them. "Come on, Charlie Brown," he stuck his tongue out teasingly at her. "Let's go grab us a spot before they're all gone."

Danny led the way to the bleachers, waiting occasionally for her to be sure she was right behind him so he could make a path through the crowd. Stepping up the bleacher stairs, crossing over a couple of rows before heading up to the very top of the bleachers, taking a seat before holding out one of the plastic forks he'd snagged up and a couple of napkins. "I don't, uh, don't know if you needed one of these.. grabbed one just in case, though." Danny waited for her to take the napkins and fork before tucking them underneath his thigh on the bleacher seat, setting the paper bag with their fried Oreos in it between them before biting into one of the strawberries on his plate.

"God I love fresh strawberries," he mumbled softly under his breath.

She grinned, playfully shoving his shoulder in return with a shake of her head. "Yeah, yeah, lead the way.", Charlie replied. She followed closely behind him, not wanting to lose him in the crowd but kept an eye out at the different booths and games, marking where some interesting ones were for later. It thankfully didn’t take them long to reach their destination, a couple of people scattered here and there but it was pretty clear as he had stated earlier. She plopped down once they reached the top of the bleachers and was surprised at having the napkins as well as a fork held out to her.

"Oh, thanks!", she said politely. It wasn’t something she really used for funnel cake but the napkins and nice gesture was appreciated. She held the napkin between her knees to keep hold of it and was going to place the fork aside when she heard his comment. A cheshire grin spread across her features and she slowly looked at him, leaning in closer so she was near his ear and started to whisper, "Same here, but you know what’s even better?…" before continuing to speak normally after a moment pause, "Strawberries from someone else’s plate." Charlotte quickly used her fork to snag one of his strawberries, swiftly leaning back out of his space and eating her stolen treat.

Danny froze up as she leaned in and whispered in his ear, raising a brow as he corner-eyed Charlotte. An answer came to mind, but he figured he'd go ahead and keep it to himself for the time being. Though it was definitely apart of his usual humor, he didn't want to come off too lewd too fast. When she snuck a strawberry from his plate his jaw dropped and he scoffed at her, grinning from ear to ear. "You little shit!" He laughed and shook his head, hoarding his plate off to the side before popping the last whole strawberry he had into his mouth, playfully glaring at her as he chewed. The boy was sure to swallow the fruit before speaking up again.

"You're lucky you're cute." Danny scrunched his nose at her before propping his feet up on the bleacher bench seat in front of him, placing his plate on his thighs before starting to dig into his funnel cake with both hands.

Her delighted laughter rang out the moment he cursed her, the reaction behind it just making her sides hurt even more as she tried desperately to catch her breath. She did manage to calm herself after a bit, a huge smile gracing her lips before it slid into a playful smirk. "And what would you have done if I wasn’t?", she teased, sticking her tongue out at him as he had done earlier and digging into her own funnel cake as well. Honestly, she was glad they had ran into each other again and couldn’t wait to see everyone else.

Daniel shook his head at her with a smirk, finishing his bite of funnel cake before sticking his tongue out at her, choosing not to answer her question. Instead, he continued to chow down on his funnel cake and people watch from the top of the bleachers where they sat together. His mind started going over their previous conversations in line, a smile teasing at the corners of his lips as he recalled how excited she was to have reunited with him. He couldn't wait to see how the others reacted, and she with them. A boyish sense of excitement welled up in him at the thought of it. They'd have the original group back together, as a whole. What a trip this year was starting off to be. Here's to a great start to the new year.

Anastasia chuckled, and put her phone away again, making sure it was secured- wouldn't do for it to fall out and cause a scene in any cricual moment. That would just be embarrassingly. "Sometime's I don't even think he knows whar he's going ot do next, the kid needs to just have a permenant to do list on his arm or something. Perhaps tattooed. " She said with amusement, and a hint of exasperation. At least, however, it seemed that things weren't going to be too much of an issue. There was no S.O.S about the unform, at the least.

As Tria grabbed her hand, she let the other girl tug her along, and quickly went through her own mental check list. At times like this, when she was trying to be prepared for everything, Anastasia could understand that she was more than a little bit of a perfectionist. Did it matter? At times, she thought so. She recognised, however, that that was just how she was, and she couldn't change that. Letting Tria led her on, she nodded. "Hopefuly they're ready.... first cheer back, should be a good one." It would be, they were a good team.

She had done all she could to make sure they would all be ready, to make things easier for Tria. While Ana didn't want to be a leader in this, she wanted to make sure her friend had as much support and help as Ana could give her. She didn't want to lose someone she trusted, admired, and considered family because of something she didn't do, or didn't do well enough. "Our last year... We better start of with a bang" That thought nearly brought on a wave of anxiety that she just barely controlled. Everything would change, they'd be going off to college... starting different lives.... "And go down in history as Delbrooks greatest cheerleading team"

Allister couldn’t help but chuckle when Benny used the nickname the rest of the school seemed to have given him. “You flatter me with that name, and put yourself down at the same time.” He went back to people watching, noticing the two individuals nearby and rolling his eyes. He hadn’t noticed Kaylen crying until he followed Ezra’s gaze to her and Cass. Deciding to ignore the drama nearby he turned his attention back to his friend. “Besides, I would say we are more equal partners in this thing we have going. And you are damn right this year is ours.”

He shoved the rest of his funnel cake toward Benny. “Too sweet for me, if you want the rest. Would hate to waste it.” He sat up a bit from his lounging position, going back to scanning the large group of seniors below.

His attention went back to Benny when he mentioned their birthday. “You know I am setting up a haunted house. Probably at the beach house though, Folks insist on being home for my birthday this year. So annoying, they miss, I don’t even know how many but suddenly I turn 18 and I am their top priority. I call bullshit honestly.” He was clearly annoyed by his parents suddenly showing an interest in his birthday. Like it messed up some grand scheme he had, which, if he were being honest it really did. With his folks home he couldn’t throw a party, he would have to wait until after they left. “Might have to wait to have a big party other than the haunted house until after they leave for a business trip. That or I can just guilt them into leaving me alone again. Make up some BS about how all my friends already had something planned for the day.” He shrugged, he still had plenty of time to work his parents so he wasn’t too worried about it.

The pair had finished off their funnel cake and had decided on making their way back down the bleachers and into the crowd to try to find the twins. As much as Danny would have loved to catch up one on one with Charlotte more, he felt a bit guilty holding her all to himself. Having taken the plates and handed over the bag with the Oreos in it, Daniel made his way down the bleachers with Charlotte just behind him. The boy cast a glance over towards two familiar figures sitting together. Allister and Ezra. Why wouldn't they be sitting together? When didn't they? The two were practically Siamese twins when they weren't in separate classes. Where you found one, the other wasn't far away.

Daniel turned his attention to the girl following behind him as the two reached the bottom of the bleachers, flashing a smile at her. "So... what classes do you have? Anything interesting?" The boy dumped the two plates into the garbage bin at the end of the row before heading down the short metal stairs that led onto the grassy field, looking out at the crowd of people as he waited for Charlotte to catch up so they could walk side-by-side.




Way to talk like a rich white boy, bro. he thought to himself, chuckling as he shrugged off Allister's comment about putting his own self down. Benny had mad respect for the boy, though. He saw and treated him as his equal, just as he had said. Something that was rare to find, these days. Someone who put their words into their actions. One of the reasons why Allister was one of the only people Benny dared hang around outside of the school. One of the few he could truly consider a friend.

Movement off to the boys' left caught Benny's attention, catching the eyes of Daniel Murphy for a hot second before the boy continued down the bleachers with a pretty girl on his heels. Benny couldn't help himself. His eyes trailed down the length of her before traveling back up to stare at the back of her head, watching her walk off with the all-star swimmer. Joder, ella está caliente, he thought, quickly closing his mouth when he realized it'd been hanging open while he'd been staring. A soft chuckle escaped him as he turned back to Allister, seeing the plate of funnel cake Al had pushed towards him, it dawned on Benny that he'd said something while he was distracted. The boy racked his brain for what was said, finally recalling that Al had offered him the funnel cake. Something about it being too sweet. Whatever. He didn't much care for funnel cake himself, but he was hungry. He wasn't about to complain.

"Thanks, man."

As Allister continued to talk, Benny went to town on the funnel cake he'd been given and nodded as Al went on. "Mm, yeah my dad's apparently got something planned, too. We'll be doing it on the 30th, though. So I'll be free for helping with the Haunted House and stuff."




The tone of her voice, the look in her eyes... the quivering of her lip. The image before her was heartbreaking.

A soft frown formed over Sam's lips as she stepped up beside Sasha and wrapped her arms around her best friend, pulling her into a tight, warm embrace. With a soft sigh, Sam gently rested her head over Sasha's and rubbed her back comfortingly. The two stayed like that a while till Sam could no longer feel her friend trembling in her arms. The girl reluctantly pulled back and picked up the scissors from the sink, twirling her finger to motion Sasha to turn around. "It's gonna be okay, babe. Come on. Let me help you clean it up a little, at least."

Looking at the girl's hair, there really wasn't anything wrong with the cut at all. She did it at a point that it was still pretty long, just at her shoulders anyway, and wasn't as crooked as Sam was sure she thought it was. Luckily Sam's grandmother had taught her how to cut hair, though it really didn't take any real genius to cut hair across in a straight line. Not that Sasha's "skills" were in question. The girl was overly emotional. Was understandable. Nothing a little love and help from her best friend couldn't fix.

As Sam worked on trimming at the ends of Sasha's hair to even it out, she looked over Sasha into their reflections in the mirror, staring at Sasha as she worked. "I may not know the full extent of what you're going through, Sash... but I'm not going anywhere. I'm gonna be here for you through it every step of the way." Sam turned her eyes back on Sasha's hair, raising her brow at one spot that still had Sasha's full-length of hair. Sam couldn't help the shadow of a smile that teased at the corners of her lips, clipping the section of hair to match the length of the rest before her eyes rose to meet Sasha's again. "I love you, girl. It's going to be okay. Can't ever have the good without the bad to remind you what the good parts of it are like. Unfortunately, this is part of the journey too, love."




After waiting in the line for what seemed like ages, the hungry teenager finally got up to the front of the line and was able to order. With the time he spent standing in line, he was able to go back and forth several times on his decision as to what he wanted to order. BBQ Chicken Pizza. BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwich. BBQ Chicken Pizza. BBQ Pulled Pork.. BBQ Chicken... Pulled pork. Having placed his order, Sawyer stood to the side by the others who patiently awaited their order. While he waited for his food to be done, Sawyer popped open his root beer and took a sip as he watched the people inside the food truck working on orders. The boy pulled out his phone and typed out a quick message to Eretria, scanning the crowd around him before hitting send, turning back to the food truck.

After a few more moments of nothing in particular Maria was starting to get restless. If they were going to do something they should do it. It seemed a few of the group had already scattered so the red headed female decided it was her cue to leave, though if she was being honest she wasn’t exactly up for wandering around by herself. After a bit of mental deliberation she finally sighed and poked her twin’s arm. “We don’t have to wait for the whole dang group to figure out what to do, I know you want some food, let's just go.” She whispered to her brother who seemed to nod in response.

Marco turned to the group who seemed otherwise preoccupied and shrugged, deciding to follow his sister to some of the food stalls. “You want anything in particular or do you care cuz…if you don’t care, I have been craving funnel cake since we walked out here, and maybe a pretzel. I haven’t decided.” The taller twin looked at his sister reading her facial expressions before she even spoke. She was pretty easy to read, at least for him.

Maria knew she didn’t have to answer her brother, however she still did. “You are the one here who is food motivated. I don't care, just pick something. I'll get something from wherever you pick. I was just tired of standing there doing nothing.” She took a look around and pointed out a few stalls that Marco might be interested in. Eventually he decided on one and they stood in line for a time before getting to the front and placing their orders. Marco seemed to have opted for 2 pretzels instead of a funnel cake, which meant that didn’t have to sit down to eat. Mara simply got a bottle of water. Still being full from breakfast they had not even two hours earlier. This, unfortunately meant that she got to hold Marco’s other pretzel while he downed his first one.

After a few minutes of wandering Marco caught the site of two figures walking down from the bleachers. “Hey, there’s Danny. Wanna go see what he is up to?” He looked to Maria who had been focused on something else. She took a look where he had motioned but Danny had apparently moved to where she couldn’t see him.

“Sure why not?” She said handing Marco his other pretzel when he motioned for it. Following the taller male through the crowd to where she figured he had spotted Danny. She hadn’t really talked to Danny much when they had met up initially, he was gone so fast and there were so many other people she had been a bit overwhelmed but it. So at least getting to talk to him in a smaller group would be easier.

Eventually the pair made it to where Marco had seen the aforementioned male and Maria realized he was standing beside a vaguely familiar figure. Pushing past her brother and walking up to where Danny appeared to be waiting for the figure. “Daniel, how dare you find Charlie in this mess of people and keep her to yourself.” She called out to him, making Marco squint a bit from behind her. It took him a little longer to recognize the figure even after Maria said her name.

“Holy cow, if it isn’t the famous Charlotte Thorne, been a hot minute, good to see you decided to grace us with your presents.” Marco said catching up to his sister, now using her as an armrest which she attempted to side step and push him away, accidentally bumping into a random person in the process. She was forced to concede to being her twin’s armrest. “You do remember your favorite set of twins right?” Marco continued then took another bite of the pretzel he had in his hand. The pair stood a little away so as to not bombard her with hugs just in case they were wrong or she didn’t remember them.

Ignatius skidded to a halt in front of the boys changing room, drawing in a few deep breaths as he slowly let his racing heart soothe itself, slowing to a regular beat again as he sought to get his mind, racing just as much as his heart, under control. Which was probably a losing battle as he muttered a curse before dashing to one of the lockers, shoving his things in, hurriedly changing his clothes. How had he forgotten his uniform? He could almost hear his mother go ”I told you so! Always forgetting something!”..

He had the forethought to glance at one of the mirrors, making sure that his uniform was okay- he could almost picture the disappointed looks if he wasn’t at least presentable. There was something else he had to do… he paused a minute, still for a few rare moments as he tried to remember, but his brain didn’t let him focus on that too long, finding it a losing battle as he turned back to his chosen locker. “Alright… uniform… What else? I swear I’m missing something… “ He paused another moment, before sighing.

It was no use. Besides, he was sure if there was anything important, Annie or Tria would have messaged him about i- “SHIT” Grabbing his phone, Ignatius hurriedly swiped through it, finding the group message with the video Anastasia had sent them all. He had totally meant to watch it, to make sure he had everything down pat, but it had, like so much else, slipped his mind. He didn’t have much time, could he watch it? Cursing again, Ignatius hurriedly made sure his things were away before dashing out the lockers, going in search of the team.

Location: Luis' Tacoporium
Interaction: Malu @metanoia

Mia let out a giggle at Malu’s colorfully-worded attack on her brother, who was nowhere near to defend himself. And something she appreciated even more than hearing her brother get roasted was hearing compliments. Opening a big smile, Mia felt the uneasiness about her new look quickly evaporate, interwinding her arm with Malu’s.

“I can always count on you to hype me up in the best way, Mal.” Falling in line next to her friend, Mia conducted herself with the same carefree attitude that had gotten her through the past 16 years.
“So, other than patiently waiting for me, what’s up with you, smarty-pants? Ready to intellectually kick ass and make the rest of us look bad?” She raised an eyebrow as she asked, smiling with her teeth.

-


Location: Field -> Bleachers
Interactions: Charllotte @Akayaofthemoon (via text)

The field was packed, unsurprisingly, with everyone in school, except for the one person Lydia wanted to see. Either Charlotte had found something sweet to entertain herself, or she was alone flipping her shit. Either way, Lydia would find her, even if it meant subjecting herself to possibly bumping into her brainless classmates.

Ignoring the sophomore girls who were very conspicuously whispering about her, she pulled out her phone, texting Charlie as she headed for the bleachers, where she could at least hide from the sun (and maybe even have a sneaky smoke, if she's lucky).